In the summer of 1943, seventeen year old Beryl (or Natalie
as she would prefer to be called) began to write in a diary she named Dolores. A
regular event has been seeing off local boys with a hug, kiss and promise to
write at Union Station as they head off to war. However none of these
departures could compare to saying goodbye to her cousin and best friend
Carmen. Natalie describes life in war-time Toronto, attending dances with
servicemen, seeing newsreels about invasions and reading lists with the names of
those who would not return. She would join the war effort working first at The
John Ingalls Company making machine guns, then for De Havilland making
Mosquitoes.

I was first introduced to Bernice Thurman Hunter’s books in elementary
school with her trilogy about a young girl growing up in Toronto during the
Great Depression. “Booky” instantly became one of my favourite books. However
it wasn’t until recently that I came across The Girls They Left Behind after
all these years. While I do plan to purchase a copy for my own at some point, I
couldn’t wait to read it especially after I saw it on the shelf at my local
library.

In The Girls They Left Behind, Natalie is feeling left
behind as the boys she grew up with are sent away to war. The author wrote this
story with her own memories from that time period in mind. Fortunately young
women of the past several generations haven’t had to deal with losses of the
magnitude from Thurman Hunter’s generation. Though I felt that she wrote the character
of Natalie with traits that girls of today could still relate to.

The most enjoyable part of this book for me was the cultural
and setting references from that time. Including the fashion, responsibilities,
family dynamics and more specifically the locations around the city. It gave a
quick glimpse of life in Canada during the turbulent years of war. The diary
and letter style format made for a fast and enjoyable read.

Unfortunately Bernice Thurman Hunter was in the middle of
writing Natalie’s story when she passed away in 2002. Her daughter Heather Anne
Hunter would complete writing it in her honor and I believe she would be proud
of how it all came together.

The Girls They Left Behind is young adult fiction, but I
would recommend it to anyone who is interested in historical fiction focusing
on the home front during wartime.